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Ave Maria:-)

What better day to utter this greeting Ave Maria than on the Feast of the Assumption. Many times we give violent reactions, automatically 

render hardcore decisions but sadly and more often it is with lack of knowledge..and lack of faith and love in our Lord. Religion, matters of faith are so sensitive, a personal, communal, cultural at times political decision for human beings like you and me.

Rather than posture as a theologian which I am not, nor as a resource person on this topic which again I am not --- today I speak only as a child as as a daughter who has benefitted from a mother's love... our divine mother's love, Mary Most Holy.

What is all this fuss about the Assumption ? Other denominations would think .. oh here again are the Catholics with all their pronouncements and papal decrees..magisterium stuff that they want to impose on the people. But papal teachings..the magisterium of the church are not given to merely  impose authority or make life harder for the faithful -- on the contrary it affirms, gives light and clear direction to the law of God, to the direction of the Holy Spirit.

Inspite of being a colegiala (St. Theresa's from Grade 1 to high school... kinder at Immaculate Conception... inspite of growing up in a thoroughly Catholic setting with a mother and grandmother (father's side) who made sure we knew Catholic traditions/ prayers/feasts and most of all Christian values -- yet must honestly admit my love story with the Blessed Mother started and became truer after joining the Catholic Renewal movement - sometimes called charismatic movement in the Catholic church and in other denominations - perhaps termed as  revival ?

It is perhaps similar to being born of Filipino parents, in the Philippine islands, brought up , reared with Filipino values but not appreciating all of these not cherishing your homeland, your people , your culture or citizenship - until we finally fully understand , acknowledge  and appreciate Everything that is Filipino -- when we finally make that ultimate connection -- that is when we are willing to take up arms and defend our homeland , our people --- but until you make that Essential Connection - it is sub-zero so to speak. We are not moved at all.

Did I pray the rosary? ( oh yes on bended knees with cousins and lola or mama at exactly 6pm everyday:-) )  Hear mass  ? yes , a must on Sundays and feastdays.. and sometimes on regular days too) Did I know Jesus, and Mary and Joseph , the saints and a bit about our Catholic faith... oh yes... the sisters (Belgian and STC teachers ) family elders were quite good and conscientious about this duty...  it was  a yes to all... seeds planted in my mind, heart..being... but perhaps this precious seed of faith at an appointed time grows and slowly but surely becomes  a tree of spiritual conviction -- as tho' one recognizes one's Creator, Lord and Saviour for the first time. And life changes. There has to be worthwhile changes... a transformation unto Christ.

There is no love story  with Mama Mary unless there is first a love story with Christ.

And once our heart makes a definitive movement to allow Jesus to take hold of our life, our goals, our attitudes, our problems our relationships...our work.. our health , our very heart and will --- when we invite Jesus in.... then it cannot be helped that He introduces us and grants us a loving relationship with His Mother as well. That is the greatest fringe benefit or bonus ever. If we are brothers and sisters of Jesus, why should we not be children of Mary as well  ?

Picture Christ Dying ... suffering unspeakable agony on the cross -- it is not a time for one to waste words.. to make confusing statements... hence when our Lord  clearly gave his mother to us ( thru John the apostle) -- we must ponder and take the Lord at His Own Words. 

 After recalling the presence of Mary and the other women at the Lord's cross, St John relates: "When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!'. Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!’" (Jn 19:26-27).

  Pope John Paul II puts it this way: 

 These particularly moving words are a "revelation scene": they reveal the deep sentiments of the dying Christ and contain a great wealth of meaning for Christian faith and spirituality. At the end of his earthly life, as he addressed his Mother and the disciple he loved, the crucified Messiah establishes a new relationship of love between Mary and Christians.

What graces if any... what and how does Mary's Assumption to heaven affect us?

Read and read joyfully .... 

"We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory."With these words, Pope Pius XII infallibly declared the Assumption of Mary, the Mother of God (theotokos), to be Catholic dogma in 1950. In this pronouncement, he was simply stating dogmatically what the Church, East and West, had believed for hundreds of years. 

The Catholic Catechism further explains:

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians (966).The Catechism then quotes from the Troparion of the Feast of the Dormition from the Byzantine Liturgy:

In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death. (966)

Thus, the Assumption of Mary is not only a participation in her Son's resurrection, but a preview of our future resurrections. As such, the dogma of Mary's Assumption is firmly rooted in the actions and person of Christ, and in the virtue of Christian hope.

Studied college at U.P. ..these were the years I lost connection with both Jesus and Mary... U.P. was a complete readical change form the cloistered madres school.. You had it all at U.P. ... protest movements, students just had too much freedom whether in an intellectual, spiritual or political sense - remember the campus radio  station  playing on air the cooings of Dovie Beams..then mistress of our president -- nothing was forbidden..nothing.

Perhaps for 7 yrs ...I gave up praying the rosary..and sacramental life -- a virtual suicidal move if you ask me

.... sacraments esp. the Holy Eucharist  -- our total food ,

 the Bread of Life, Christ Himself.... Holy Confession -- I actually toyed and accepted for a while the crazy idea that priests were not in a position to forgive sins -- it is a rather long discussion so we cannot go into it now-- suffice to say that the streams of grace and life, healing and deliverance that pass thru the 7 Sacraments are vitally needed by our soul, by our being  and this in turn affects all those whose lives we touch.

Slowly I made my way back to 

my heavenly mother 

... what a liberating healing move this was. 

Except for sin, which our Blessed Mother is exempted from..she is like us ... hence we can relate to her without fear.. without judgment...  we can go to her and confess our troubles , our fears.. our sorrows... and she always listens... she also is Mother Par Excellence which means when we need disciplinary action, our Blessed Mother will give us that spiritual spanking we need to make us wake up before it is too late.

Come let us hear mass today or at least pray the rosary.. reflecting on the mysteries that contain the life and mission of our Lord . the rosary is not about Mary... it is more about the life of our Lord and how Mary and others happened to be a part of it

 - why does this make me smile? - it sounds funny in a way -- the way we prefer to complicate matters. In fact.. our Christian faith is simple. Awesome yet simple.

a bit long today .... but savor this Feast for it affects and brings a blessing to us all.

Don't be afraid to ask... and ask help for grand things - perhaps the deliverance for one addicted to a vice... for one whose life is so steeped in sin ..for reconciliation.. why not.? Mama Mary loves to help her children. She can help obtain healing. She brings us all the way to JESUS , not to herself. 

A most Joyful Feast of Assumption to all!  Mary, dearest Mother, ever help us.

Jesus , Lord and Saviour Redeem us.

............................................................................as we pray for each other.... te mye 

Enjoy this song from Fr. Joseph Skelton... whose birhtday is Aug. 15, happy birthday Padre, click link:-)
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